Community Forums

Grn_Mtn_Boy · 06-27-2015, 03:01 PM

Here's a shot of the stowaway on the villagio.

Karyl McC · 06-27-2015, 07:16 PM

Do you have the tankless instant on hot water? We can't seem to figure it out, I guess... would seem easy enough but apparently not for us.
I do love the HAB floorplan. Really really works for us.
We had a Stowaway with our first PleasureWAy.. they are very nice.. I do wish the doors opened up higher, too... Had a friend that replaced the struts on theirs (not a Villagio)
Tell me more about the charger/inverter you got.. we have not had any difficulty yet but always interested in upgrades.
Thanks!

Grn_Mtn_Boy · 06-28-2015, 06:07 AM

Yes, we have the tankless water heater. It has been working OK. Shouldn't go up and down in temp. You can not take " military" shower. You have to leave it on and let it get a steady flow. If the flow is steady and sufficiently fast, the temp should be steady. If not, something is wrong. Open the access door and watch the flame with the hot water turned on full in the sink. The flame should be steady, not surging. If it is surging, something wrong. Previous motorhome had a different brand of tankless water heater that needed a new temp sensor and needed to be calibrated. I would call the manufacturer , atwood, and tell them what you are experiencing.
We do like the HAB, it has lots of storage and a good sized bath and shower. The benefits of not hauling around a full time bed. Got a piece of memory foam for the bed that makes it more comfortable.
I think the way the doors are hinged, new struts won't help.
We added a sat dome, so we needed a 110 v AC source for the sat to work. No inverter on board, hence the need to add one. The original charger has a three stage charger, in the end it produces a steady 13.2 volts. I like to leave the rig plugged in and I am concerned about the constant voltage. The unit I replaced it with has a fourth stage where it pulses periodically to maintain the charge, then after two weeks it recycles and starts the charging process all over. Also has a 110 v AC output that I wired into one circuit that reaches the overhead cabinet where the sat receiver is. Can also use this circuit to charge cell phones when dry camping or traveling.
This is the unit I used.

600 Watt Pure Sine Inverter Charger

Let me know what you find with the water heater.
Len

Karyl McC · 06-30-2015, 05:54 AM

We have the Villagio at our favorite and very local RV guy for repair of the strut, some work on the main coach door (which is very hard to close and requires slamming), having them check out the hot water heater, and we are having them see if they can put a dimmer on the living area coach lights. We had dimming lights in our PleasureWay Pursuit all the way through and really liked it. The Villagio lights are LED fixtures, WHich should be dimmable.
We leave our rig plugged in also. I will have my husband read over your post about what you did with your inverter. We aren't interested in a sat dome, but still nice to have 110 for other things.
We also are using a memory foam pad for the bed. It is fine as it comes, but we like a bit more cushioning (getting old! lol!) . We are stowing it in the over cab storage along with our Travasak and pillows. It all fits perfectly.
As for the water heater, Jim (husband) took the first shower in it and he did do the military type shower, which we quickly learned does NOT work. I had no intention of a quick shower so I didn't have a problem. After that first shower though, every time we have used it we have fought either scalding or freezing within minutes of each other..this has all been with a goodly water flow, so not like an ebb and flow. We shall see what the RV guy finds out...
Also..another plus for Renegade.. we are nearly 2 hours from our dealer and we were able to get this local guy approved by Renegade to do our warranty repairs. (he has done all our work on all our other RVs..he is awesome and prices more than fair for his work. In fact, he is generous to a fault... David Harrison of Harrison RV LLC, 12129 Old Concord Rd Rockwell NC... about a mile off I-85 just north of Concord NC, if ever anyone is in this area and in need.)) We were impressed that is was so easy to get this established. A HUGE benefit for us, and thank you, Renegade!
IS your Tankless water heater LP only?? We actually thought we were getting a dual LP/Electric and didn't realize it was tankless til we had our walk-through... our bad, but we had been vacillating between the 3 models of Villagio our dealer had and we got confused between models..
The HAB model offered the best storage for us and also the highest CCC. Important for the cross country trips NC to OR we make. (family both states.)

Karyl

KC · 06-30-2015, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karyl McC

We have the Villagio at our favorite and very local RV guy for repair of the strut, some work on the main coach door (which is very hard to close and requires slamming), having them check out the hot water heater, and we are having them see if they can put a dimmer on the living area coach lights. We had dimming lights in our PleasureWay Pursuit all the way through and really liked it. The Villagio lights are LED fixtures, WHich should be dimmable.
We leave our rig plugged in also. I will have my husband read over your post about what you did with your inverter. We aren't interested in a sat dome, but still nice to have 110 for other things.
We also are using a memory foam pad for the bed. It is fine as it comes, but we like a bit more cushioning (getting old! lol!) . We are stowing it in the over cab storage along with our Travasak and pillows. It all fits perfectly.
As for the water heater, Jim (husband) took the first shower in it and he did do the military type shower, which we quickly learned does NOT work. I had no intention of a quick shower so I didn't have a problem. After that first shower though, every time we have used it we have fought either scalding or freezing within minutes of each other..this has all been with a goodly water flow, so not like an ebb and flow. We shall see what the RV guy finds out...
Also..another plus for Renegade.. we are nearly 2 hours from our dealer and we were able to get this local guy approved by Renegade to do our warranty repairs. (he has done all our work on all our other RVs..he is awesome and prices more than fair for his work. In fact, he is generous to a fault... David Harrison of Harrison RV LLC, 12129 Old Concord Rd Rockwell NC... about a mile off I-85 just north of Concord NC, if ever anyone is in this area and in need.)) We were impressed that is was so easy to get this established. A HUGE benefit for us, and thank you, Renegade!
IS your Tankless water heater LP only?? We actually thought we were getting a dual LP/Electric and didn't realize it was tankless til we had our walk-through... our bad, but we had been vacillating between the 3 models of Villagio our dealer had and we got confused between models..
The HAB model offered the best storage for us and also the highest CCC. Important for the cross country trips NC to OR we make. (family both states.)

Karyl

Pleasure way uses Multiplex wiring that allows them to dim lights. FYI

KC

Karyl McC · 06-30-2015, 05:11 PM

KC... thanks, yes, I know. We just sold our PleasureWay Pursuit and bought the Villagio. That was one feature we really liked. We actually liked it a lot but I could not drive the Ford chassis it was on..too much play in the steering. We had it worked on when we first got it and my husband said it was improved but I never got comfortable with it.. just too much play for me. We knew the Sprinter chassis would be easy for me because we h had a PW Plateau for a year (19,000miles) and then a "C" on a Sprinter for 5 years (over 93,000 miles.) Looking forward to many comfortable miles and years in the Villagio!

Grn_Mtn_Boy · 07-01-2015, 05:58 AM

Karyl:
Sounds like you got a good mechanic there, that's important. All tankless WH's are LP only. Couldn't get enough electricity to it to heat water on demand continuously. Dealers are opting for these things at a premium price because folks are asking for continuous HW. I am like you, give me the old fashioned LP/electric 10 gal unit any day. Seems from what you say something is wrong with yours. Have your mechanic check it out. Also, there is a little black tube sticking out through the outside cover. This has to breath, if there is water or insect in it, your WH will not run right. Mine clogged up with rain water. Just pull it off and blow air through it to clear it.
I would suspect temp sensor is bad or disconnected.

Adding a dimmer is a great idea. I found this, and ordered it. Plan to leave the existing switch in place and just add this dimmer in the circuit.

Robot Check

Karyl McC · 07-01-2015, 06:59 PM

The Tankless HW heater is on our mechanic's list of things to do.. I didn't know the tankless was only available as LP bu it makes sense..thanks for that information!!
So, the dimmer you got has a remote fob? I like it!!

Oh! Here's a question for you... when we did our walkthough, the tech said he thought our MaxAir fans were also remote control also and told us to look in our pack of papers, etc that we got. We never found one, but Jim called our salesman who contacted the Renegade rep to see if it WAS also remote control and to get us the remotes if it is.... are yours remote controlled?/ or just controlled by the buttons on the fan itself?? I am only 5'1" and have to pull out the stepstool everytime I want to make a change to fan speed or turn off or on. Am hoping they are remote!
One other thing...did your sofa come with throw pillows?

Thanks! and thanks for information.. I am emailing all these links to my husband.
WHere are you mounting the dimmer??

Grn_Mtn_Boy · 07-02-2015, 04:56 AM

Karyl:
I haven't seen a remote for the fans. I don't know if they would work with one or not. You could get the model number and call the manufacturer and ask them if you can add a remote. No throw pillows. Dimmer control box will go behind the electrical cover in the overhead storage compartment on the right. Lots of 12 v wiring up there and the pillar where the original light switch is mounted behind the passenger seat is open right up to the overhead storage area. Good thing about key fob remote is that nothing has to be mounted in sight. I am interested in how your WH issues play out so keep us posted.

Karyl McC · 07-03-2015, 06:01 AM

Jim is hoping to just have the entire switch replaced with a dimming switch but will definitely use what you have done if that does not pan out. I sent him the link you shared. Also the inverter.
We haven't heard from our RV guy yet. Hoping to hear soon. We actually are hoping to replace the tankless with a regular WH with lp/elec capabilities. Sometimes nice to not have to use LP if you are in a campground and save the LP for boondocking. The LP tank on the Villagio is smaller than we are used to but we filled up the prevuius one maybe once a year or twice, so that isn't a problem.
Will let you know what the WH verdict is..

Grn_Mtn_Boy · 07-04-2015, 07:47 AM

Definitely better to have the combi WH. I specifically asked for that when we bought ours, but LaMesa orders all of them with tankless, so thats what we got. WH is under kitchen sink. Should be able to replace it, but biggest hassle would be lp line. If your mechanic does it, take pics. Other mod I did was add central vac. That came out very well. Went under kitchen sink where I added an outlet to plug it in. I did see an unused wire in the electrical compartment. May be for the wh?
other problem with tankless water heater is travel in cold weather. I thought the regular on off switch for the light would be handy to leave so I can shut it completely off when not in use. Some small current drain thru dimmer when off. Dont know about other dimmers.

Karyl McC · 07-05-2015, 05:21 AM

Haven't heard about the WH yet but eve if Renegade won't replace under warranty, we will have our RV guy replace it anyway if it is possible.
Tell more about your central vac!! I want and NEED one! We have 4 longhaired dachshunds and 2 young grandsons with sandy feet!
There is tons of room under the sink and I do want to hear more about your installation and where you put everything. Are you storing the hose etc there?
And did you mount the place to plug in the hose or just leave door open when using?
That is an excellent point about the dimmer switch and current loss. Just told Jim about that and he will talk to our RV guy Tuesday.
What is the problem with the tankless WH in cold weather? We do camp in cold weather at times.
Thanks!!

Karyl McC · 07-05-2015, 05:23 AM

Also, where did you get your Stowaway? We loved ours on our PW Plateau. I can see that it might be really nice for the Villagio as well, although there is a lot of very usable outside storage.
Thanks!

Grn_Mtn_Boy · 07-06-2015, 06:00 AM

Karyl:
Jim is not going to be happy with me giving you all these projects. I will get some pictures of the vac install to post. It was actually a great upgrade. Dirt devil works great and is so much more convenient. I installed it by bolting it to the middle shelf under the kitchen counter. I cut a hole and mounted the hose socket between the cabinet doors. Bag is easily accessed through the cabinet door. The hose and implements could be stored anywhere in a cabinet. The hose and stick both collapse so it doesn't take a lot of space. The vac only occupies a small space in front of the sink on that shelf. I tapped the AC outlet to the right of the sink in this same cabinet and tied in another outlet that is accessible inside the cabinet to plug in the vac. Pics will help.

The problem with the tankless water heater in the cold is unlike a conventional water heater that has a tankful of hot water and can be kept warm by electricity while on the road in cold weather, tankless WH has no reservoir, and needs the LP to fire up frequently to keep it from freezing. Anything goes wrong with that process and it freezes up. Previous MH had a different make tankless and it would blow out the fire in the campground on a windy day. Imagine what happens at 60 mph highway speeds. My plan (we live in VT. ) is to travel with antifreeze in the hot water line if we are out in cold weather. Fortunately it's easy enough to add the pink antifreeze to the hot water line.

I bought the stowaway directly from their website. If you get one, consider whether you will ever be towing a car. If so, they make a hitch for the stowaway that has a socket that can be used for the toad hitch. Wished I'd known that when I ordered it. I had them add the number plate light kit and brake light kit. Works good. Great spot for my golf clubs.